Rail anchor



' Oct. s, 1929.

` A. T. PALMER 1,730,624

RAIL ANCHOR Filed Dec. 19. 1927 Patented Oct. 8, 1929 UNTED `STATES ALPHONSOpT. PALMER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS RAIL ANCI-IOR Application filed December 19, 1927. Serial No. 241,061.

the cause which makes the rail creep and as a result of this tendency on the part of the rail to creep, the anchors are subject to considerable strains and stresses which, unless properly accounted for, are very apt to destroy the effectiveness of the anchor.

One of the important obj ects of my invention is to construct a rail anchor in a manner which will compensate, so to speak, for the strains aud stresses that it is subject to so that such strains and stresses will not detroy the effective usefulness of the device.

Another important object of my invention is to provide a rail anchor which may be cheaply made without sacrificing durability and the correct principles of operation.

4Still another object of the invention is to construct a rail anchor which may be conveniently and quickly applied to the rail with the aid of a simple tool. v

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novel features and combinations being set forth in the appended claimsn In the accompanying' drawing, in which a preferred forni of' the invention is illustrated Fig. 1 is a view in cross section of a part of a rail with the rail anchor shown in side elevation and illustrating its application to the rail;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view illustrating the cooperative relationship between the rail anchor, the rail, and the rail tie; and

Fig. 3 is aiview in section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. p

Referring now to the drawing in detail, 5 representsthe rail, the same having the usual youtside the outline of the rail.

flanged base 6, a connecting web 7., and a head, the latter not being shown in the present illustration. The rail is supported on the tie 8 and secured thereto in the customary manner, namely, by spikes, which engage the base (3; ln many instances, tie plates are used to prevent the base of the rail from cutting into the tie. This, ofv course, is all conventional Aconstruction and has nothing to do with my improved rail anchor except that the rail anchor does co-operate with the spikes to hold the rail in place and prevent creeping thereof longitudinally of the track. y

. ln its preferred construction, the anchor is made from a spring plate-like member, preferably wedge-shaped throughout its length, having heads 9 and 10 at opposite ends and a connecting web 11. The heads 9 and 10 are made with undercut notches l2 and 13 for the reception of the side edges of the rail base 6 and the connecting web 11 is intended'to underlie the base 6 in contact therewith.

According to my invention, the connecting web 11 is made in the form of a modified figure S or it might be described as having a compound curvature. In any event, it is de- -flected to provide continuous and offset bearing surfaces as at 11i and 15 along the edge of the greatest thickness ofthe web. As' will be seen from Fig. 2, the curved plate forms a bearing for engaging the tie within the outline of the rail base knearer one of the rail engaging heads than the other and the head farthest from the point of contact with the tie is provided with an abutment face which is vnormally spaced away from the tie'but which forms a limit stop that may also engage the tie in case pressure 'of the rail carries the long end of the lever formed by the plate toward the tie. The bearing -face of the head 9 is It will be seen that the force of the rail on the head 9 acts on the long lever arm measuring from the fulcrum point 15 and tends to cant the plate so as to increase the grip on the rail.

' One of the undercut recesses, namely, the recess 12 in the head 9, has a more pronounced shoulder or overhang- 16 than the correspondingshoulder or overhang 17 for the recess in the head 10. As will be observed from the plan view in Fig. 2, the shoulder or overhang 16 is turned with the curve making up the offset bearing surface, whereas the overhang or shoulder 17 terminates in such aI short length that it does not project :tar enough from the head to follow the curve making up the oiiset bearing surface 15. 1t does, however, start to curve with this surface 15. The closed ends 12 and 13 of the recesses 12 and 13, against which the side edges of the rail base 6 contact, are arranged at the curves ot the heads 9 and 10 so as to provide as wide a Contact surface as is possible from the thickness of the device.

To apply the anchoiI to the rail, it is slipped under the base 6 so as to insert the side edge of the base in the recess 12 of the head 9. The upper edge of the web which provides the bottom of the recess 12 is cut on a bevel as at 11 to make an enlargement so that the anchor may assume the dotted line position shown in lfig. 1. A tool is appliet to the head 10 for snapping the opposite head ot the anchor over the base of the rail. To con-- veniently etfect this operation, the tool preterably comprises a relatively large wedgeshaped head 18 having a closed slot 19 therein shaped to conform to the cross section oi the head 10. Projecting upwardly from the head 10 is a manipulating handle or lever 20. Since the head 10 is spaced troni the side oi the tie 8, the head of the tool may be very easily slipped over the same. The lower edge of the anchor is notched as at 21 tor engaging the lower end ot' the slot 19. New, with the tool applied as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, a thrust or pull on the manipulating handle 20 toward the rail will longitudinally spring the web 11 increasing the longitudinal dimension of the anchor so that the side edge ot the rail base will clear the shoulder or overhang 17 Vand seat within the recess 13. This operation is materially aided by a fulcrum point, asat 22, where the tool head. rests against the side ot the rail base.

The tool, when manipulated in the manner stated, will also develop an upward pull on the end of the anchor so that at the same time that its longitudinal dimension is being increased, it will be pulled up over the side edge of the base and, when the shoulder or overhang 17 has cleared the base, it will snap into place.

Before the curved plate 11 is applied to the rail base, the distance between the Jfaces 12 and 13 is less than the width oi the base so that the web is under stress when the anchor is in place on the rail. This causes the web to exert a powerful force on the gripping heads or jaws to hold the anchor in place on the rail. ln placing the anchor on the rail base, it is extended by means oi' the lever 20, as indicated in broken lines in Fig. 2, and then when the notch in the head 1() brought into registration with the edge ot the rail base, the parts are sprung together by the force of the web 11 to grip the edges ot the rail base, in the position shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2.

The pressure against the tie 8 tends to tip the lower edge of the flange away from the tie. This causes the abutment 141 to bear against the underside ot the rail so that the abutment 14 and the notches in the heads 9 and 10 exert a gripping force on the rail, augmenting the tension exerted by the web 11. The ott'set bearing 14 prevents the heads from being bent or twisted, as might be the case it there were no bearing point otlsetfrom the center line ot the heads. 1i' the rail tends to move in the opposite direction over thev tie and is embedded in the track bed, there is a tendency to tilt the lower edge of the anchor toward the tie. This will bring the bearing surface 15 into contact with the lower shaped in cross section and has its greatest' .iidth at the top sov that the thickness of the web where it joins the contact heads gives maximum strength at this point where the strain is the greatest. This feature, together with the offset portions ot the upper bearing tace ot the web, prevents any danger ot bending or twisting-the head at its connection with the web.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope oi the invention as delined by the claims hereto appended, and I wish therefore not to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed.

It will be noted from Fig. 2 of the drawing that the laterally offset curved portions 1-1 and 15 are symmetrically arranged relatively to the center line extending between the contact heads 9 and 10. This distributes the resistance to the tension on the web 11 symmetrically at opposite sides of the center line so that the resultant ot the resistance ot the two curved portions is in line with the contact heads and not oiiset at one side as would be the case if the curved portions were at one side of the line connecting the contact heads.

Tt is also noted that the web 11 is thickest at its top edge which is nearest to the vpoints of contact with the edges ot the rail base. This gives the greatest resistance to tension on the web along a line closely adj acent the contact heads'. Tt will be noted that it the lower edge of the web were as thick as the upper edge, then the resultant of the resistance would be shifted down lower on the web and farther away from the Contact heads. The construction brings the resultant of the resistance to stretching practically in line with the points of contact with the edges of the rail so that it is most effective in retaining the anchor in place and is not displaced either laterally or vertically from the position where it is most effective.

It will be noted that when the contact point 9 engages the tie, any pressure at this point tends to increase the curvature of the portion l5 which engages the tie and not to straighten out the curvature as would be the case if the point of contact of the curved part were at the center of the rail. The long arm of the web acts upon the curved portion which is farthest away from the point of contact so that the action tending to increase the curvature is greater than any action tending to straighten out the curvature of the part le! most closely adjacent the contact end 9. This is true irrespective of the side of the anchor placed toward the tie. The arrangement of the curvature is symmetrical relative to the center line, so that no matter which side of the anchor is placed toward the tie the resultant is always the same and the point of greatest force is along the center line joining the two contact heads.

I claim i- 1. A rail anchor comprising a spring plate having contact heads at opposite ends thereof for engaging opposite edges of a rail base, said plate being curved laterally foi engaging the side of the tie within the outline of a rail base, and having a supplemental contact portion for engaging the tie outside of the outline of the rail base.

2. A rail anchor comprising a spring plate having the form of an S-shaped curve, said plate having gripping heads at opposite ends thereof, one convex portion of said plate being arranged to engage the face of a tie on which the rail rests while the end of the plate farthest removed from said engaging portion forms an abutment member arranged to be spaced away from the face of the tie but to act as a limiting stop for engaging the face of the tie when moved by the rail toward said tie. A

3. A rail anchor comprising meansv for engaging opposite sides of a rail base and a connecting web for underlying the rail base having bearing surfaces on the top thereof arranged in staggered relation to one another.

if. A rail anchor comprising means for engaging opposite sides of a rail base and a connecting web for underlying the rail base having bearing surfaces on the top thereof arranged in staggered relation to one another, the side of one of said bearing surfaces adapted to bear against the side of a tie as an abutment for the anchor.

5. A rail anchor embodying in its construction a member wedge-shaped in cross section and having defiected portions providing connected and offset bearing surfaces for engaging the underside of a rail base, and means for clamping said member to the sides of the rail base.

6. A rail anchor embodying in'its construction a member wedge-shaped in cross section and .having defiected portions providing connected and offset bearing surfacesalong the edge of the greatest thickness of the wedge for engaging the underside of a rail base, and means for clamping said member to the sides of the rail base. f

. 7. A rail anchor embodying inits construction a member wedge-shaped in cross section and having deflected portions providing connected and offset bearing surfaces along the edge of the greatest thickness of the wedge for engaging the underside of a rail base, and means for clamping said member to the sides of the rail base compris-ing heads at the ends of said wedge-shaped member having recesses for the reception ofthe side edges of the rail base.

8. A rail anchor comprising a one-piece plate-like member having heads at opposite ends with recesses for the reception of the side edges of arail base, and a connecting web between said heads having defiected portions providing connected and offset bearing surfaces for engaging the underside of a rail base,

the vertical side of one of said defiected pore tions providing a tie abutment, one of said headslying closer to the tie than the other when the device is in operative position.

9. A rail anchor comprising a member for underlying the base of a rail adjacent a rail tie, said member having a compound curvature to provide` connected and offset bearing surfaces along the upper edge thereof, and means for clamping said member to a rail comp rising heads at opposite ends of the mei'nber having undercut recesses for the reception of the side edges of the rail base, said offset recesses being in substantial alinement while the ends of said heads are offset substantially from one another.

10. In combination, a` railway rail, a tie for supporting said rail, and means for anchoring the rail against creeping comprising a plate-like member having offset clamping heads at opposite ends with undercut recesses therein for the reception of the side edges of the rail base, and a connecting Web between said headed ends, said web having an upper edge with offset bearing surfaces adapted to contact with the underside of the rail adjacent the tie and at a point farther in advance of the tie than the relative position of the nearest one of said offset clamping heads, said offset ends adapted to lie at varying distances from the tie when said plate-like member is in operative position.

11. A rail anchor as set forth in claim l0 and in which the clamping heads and the connecting web between the same are Wedgeshaped in cross section.

12. A rail anchor 'comprising a member vance of the side ot one of said headed ends Y CII adapted to underlie the. base of a rail and having clamping heads at opposite ends thereoi Jfor engaging the side edges of said rail hase7 said heads being offset with respect to one another7 one of said heads adapted to abut against the side of a tie when the anchor is applied to a rail and position the other head in spaced relation relatively of the tie, and a recess inthe underside of said member to receive a tool Which latter in conjunction With the rail and recess is adapted to increase the longitudinal dimension oi said member when pressure is applied thereto in the proper direction.

18. A' rail anchor comprising a plate-like member having Wedgesshaped headed ends provided with undercut recesses vfor engaging the side edges of a rail base, and a substantially f-shaped connecting web between said headed ends adapted to underlie a` rail base and providing oii'set bearing surfaces, one of said bearing surfaces projecting in adand the other bearing surface projecting in a like manner from the opposite side oi the other head.

14. -A rail anchor comprising a member adapted to underlie the base of a rail and having clamping heads at opposite ends thereof for engaging the side edges of said rail base, said heads being oii'set With respect to one another, one of said heads being adapted to abut against the side of the tie When the anchor is applied to a rail and position the other head in spaced relation relatively ot the tie, and ay recess in one of said heads adapted to receive one edge of an opening in a tool Which is adapted to be slipped Vover the head and into engagement with said recess in such a manner that the member Will have its longitudinal dimensions increased as pressure is exerted on the tool in the proper direction.

In testimony whereof I have signed my naine to this specilication on this 16th day of December, A. D. 1927.

A. T. PALMER. 

